USL Week 18: Leaderboard Static as S2, Galaxy II Stay Atop West

July 20, 2015 - United Soccer League Championship (USL) News Release

TAMPA, Fla. - With many of the top teams in the Western Conference earning draws in Week 18, the leaderboard remains the same with Seattle Sounders FC 2 and the LA Galaxy II atop the West in points. In the Eastern Conference, the second-place Charleston Battery and third-place Louisville City FC each won during the weekend, cutting into Rochester's lead after the unbeaten Rhinos came away with a draw.

FEATURED GAMES

LA Galaxy II 1, Orange County Blues FC 1

The Galaxy II overcame an early deficit to pick up a home draw against local rival Orange County on Thursday at StubHub Center. Ariel Lassiter provided the equalizer as Los Dos (10-5-3, 33 points) took sole possession of first in the West at the time, before Seattle Sounders FC 2 joined them later in the weekend. In their past 14 matches the Galaxy II have posted an impressive 10-2-2 record after opening their second USL season with a five-game winless streak. Los Dos have a challenging final 10-game stretch to close out the regular season with seven matches on the road.

Louisville City FC 2, Pittsburgh Riverhounds 1

City FC stretched its winning streak to four games with a big victory on the road against the Riverhounds on Saturday at Highmark Stadium. Matt Fondy, who formerly played for the Riverhounds, provided the game-winning tally as Louisville moved to 9-3-5 (32 points) this season. Fondy leads the squad with 11 goals in 17 games. The victory marked Louisville's second road win of the season and cemented the team's spot in third place in the Eastern Conference. During this four-game winning streak, City FC has outscored its opponents by a 13-3 margin. Heading into Week 19, City FC is eight points behind conference-leading Rochester, but has played one less match than the Rhinos.

Charleston Battery 1, Wilmington Hammerheads FC 0

Forward Dane Kelly scored a world-class tally, carving a right-footed strike into the upper right corner of the frame, to lead the Battery to a 1-0 victory against Wilmington on Saturday at Blackbaud Stadium. The second-place Battery (9-2-7, 34 points) moved a bit closer to the league-leading Rochester Rhinos (11-0-7, 40 points) who earned a point during the weekend after a 0-0 draw against the Charlotte Independence. Kelly leads Charleston with nine goals in 16 games this year.

Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC 1, Seattle Sounders FC 2 1

In a matchup where either team would come away with first place in the Western Conference, it was S2 that retook the top billing. Sergio Mota scored a game-tying goal in the 61st minute to help Seattle earn a key road draw to move atop the West at 10-6-3 (33 points). However, Seattle will be without the Brazilian this Friday against the Portland Timbers 2 after he was issued a straight red card in the 88th minute. Colorado Springs' Aaron King got the host side off to a good start with a ninth-minute goal, but the Switchbacks (10-6-2, 32 points) saw their seven-game winning streak at Sand Creek Stadium come to a close.

QUOTABLE

"This was not only our best performance, but the best performance I've seen by any team in the league." - Austin Aztex Coach Paul Dalglish, whose team defeated Arizona United SC 4-1 on Friday

"The guys worked all week trying to get ready for this match and I thought we just finished our opportunities much better. We were a little more dangerous in the attack and I thought in the first half, in particular, after we made our first mistake on the [penalty kick] we settled things down." - Portland Timbers 2 Coach Jay Vidovich after T2's 4-2 win against Vancouver Whitecaps FC 2 on Sunday

"I am proud of every one of our players, staff and fans. I thought tonight that our levels were higher than when we played Sunderland. It was a proper Premiership performance from them, but we still caused them a lot of problems." - Sacramento Republic FC Coach Paul Buckle following the team's 1-0 loss to the EPL's Newcastle on Saturday at Bonney Field

"Are we a playoff team the way we've been playing the last two games? No, we're not a playoff team, and it shows." - Pittsburgh Riverhounds Coach Mark Steffens after the Hounds' 2-1 loss to Louisville City FC at Highmark Stadium

BY THE NUMBERS

18 - The Rochester Rhinos' club-record unbeaten streak has reached 18 games after a 0-0 draw against the Charlotte Independence.

14 - OKC Energy FC's Danni Kî=B6nig leads the USL with 14 goals, converting a PK during OKC's 1-1 draw against Tulsa Roughnecks FC on Saturday

12 - Rochester earned its 12th clean sheet this season and is shutting out opponents two-thirds of the time this year (12 shutouts in 18 games; 67 percent)

5 - There were five draws in Week 18, four involving Western Conference teams

STANDINGS

EASTERN CONFERENCE

Team GP W L T GF GA Pts

Rochester Rhinos 18 11 0 7 22 6 40

Charleston Battery 18 9 2 7 31 17 34

Louisville City FC 17 9 3 5 32 15 32

Richmond Kickers 18 7 3 8 25 19 29

Pittsburgh Riverhounds 18 7 7 4 36 30 25

New York Red Bulls II 18 7 7 4 26 27 25

Harrisburg City Islanders 16 6 6 4 24 28 22

Saint Louis FC 18 5 7 6 20 27 21

Charlotte Independence 15 4 6 5 15 18 17

Toronto FC II 14 3 8 3 10 24 12

Wilmington Hammerheads FC 18 2 10 6 11 24 12

FC Montreal 16 3 11 2 18 27 11

WESTERN CONFERENCE

Team GP W L T GF GA Pts

Seattle Sounders FC 2 19 10 6 3 35 27 33

LA Galaxy II 18 10 5 3 30 18 33

Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC 18 10 6 2 37 22 32

Sacramento Republic FC 19 9 7 3 29 24 30

OKC Energy FC 18 7 5 6 27 26 27

Orange County Blues FC 18 7 8 3 24 29 24

Vancouver Whitecaps FC 2 20 6 9 5 28 37 23

Portland Timbers 2 18 7 9 2 27 30 23

Arizona United SC 17 7 9 1 20 35 22

Tulsa Roughnecks FC 18 6 8 4 26 30 22

Austin Aztex 18 6 9 3 21 25 21

Real Monarchs SLC 17 2 9 6 18 27 12

RESULTS

Wednesday, July 15

FC Montreal 5, Saint Louis FC 2

Vancouver Whitecaps FC 2 2, Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC 2

Thursday, July 16

LA Galaxy II 1, Orange County Blues FC 1

Friday, July 17

Austin Aztex 4, Arizona United SC 1

Saturday, July 18

Louisville City FC 2, Pittsburgh Riverhounds 1

New York Red Bulls II 2, Harrisburg City Islanders 0

Rochester Rhinos 0, Charlotte Independence 0

Charleston Battery 1, Wilmington Hammerheads FC 0

OKC Energy FC 1, Tulsa Roughnecks FC 1

Saint Louis FC 1, Toronto FC II 0

Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC 1, Seattle Sounders FC 2 1

Sunday, July 19

Portland Timbers 2 4, Vancouver Whitecaps FC 2 2

SCHEDULE

Tuesday, July 21

Toronto FC II vs. FC Montreal, 8 p.m. ET

Friday, July 24

Charlotte Independence vs. FC Montreal, 7:30 p.m. ET

Toronto FC II vs. Charleston Battery, 8 p.m. ET

Vancouver Whitecaps FC 2 vs. Tulsa Roughnecks FC, 10 p.m. ET

Seattle Sounders FC 2 vs. Portland Timbers 2, 10:30 p.m. ET

Saturday, July 25

New York Red Bulls II vs. Richmond Kickers, 4 p.m. ET

Wilmington Hammerheads FC vs. Louisville City FC, 7 p.m. ET

Saint Louis FC vs. OKC Energy FC, 8:30 p.m. ET

Orange County Blues FC vs. Real Monarchs SLC, 10 p.m. ET

Arizona United SC vs. Austin Aztex, 10:30 p.m. ET

Sunday, July 26

Rochester Rhinos vs. Charleston Battery, 4:05 p.m. ET

Harrisburg City Islanders vs. Pittsburgh Riverhounds, 6:30 p.m. ET

Portland Timbers 2 vs. LA Galaxy II, 10 p.m. ET

HOW TO FOLLOW

Every game of the 2015 USL season can be seen live, free and in HD on YouTube (www.Youtube.com/USL), with updates from across the league also available via Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

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United Soccer League Championship Stories from July 20, 2015

• LA Galaxy II sign Academy products Adrian Vera and Bennett Sneddon - USL
• USL Week 18: Leaderboard Static as S2, Galaxy II Stay Atop West - USL
• Lou City Adds Canadian Midfielder Kevin Cossette - Louisville City FC
• FC Montreal Faces Toronto FC II Tuesday Night - FC Montreal
• WFC2 Battle Valiantly But Fall 4-2 to Timbers 2 - Vancouver Whitecaps FC 2

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